One Night in Bangkok
by Edmondia Dantes Redux
Summary: AU. Take the hand of the devil in a city full of sin... and save yourself, if you can. Originally written in 2003, posted here for archival purposes.
1. Covetousness

- - -  
**_One Night in Bangkok_**  
**_by Edmondia Dantes_**

Disclaimer: I own all but the characters. Those belong to Takahashi-sama.

AN: It's my ancient AU. Literally ancient, this sucker was written way back in 2003. If you're looking for a plot, or indeed anything that actually makes sense, then GTFO. This is mindless self-indulgence from my freshman year of college, and it shows. I haven't edited it a bit, so all those dangling plot holes and threads are right where I left them six years ago.

- - -  
_Chapter One - Covetousness_

-7:00 p.m.-

Downtown Bangkok. High summer, a still, drowsy night, heat so thick and syrupy that an unwitting soul could drown in it.

The Banyan Tree Bangkok, the city's tallest luxury hotel. The home of the world's most prestigious chess match, organized by the American billionaire Pegasus J. Crawford. Anticipation flowed through the cool hallways like the swirling cigarette smoke that drifted from a thousand idle hands. Glass clinked against china, and through the restless rustle of the gossiping throngs, a hundred flashbulbs flared with blinding light on painted faces.

The room was gorgeous. The room was opulent. The room was crowded. And the room was noisy.

A young boy stood calmly amidst the chaos, bright violet eyes drinking in the sights with an innocence that seemed to clash with the worldly setting. Slender, beautiful, eighteen years old, a freshman at Tokyo University.

Yugi Motou, Japan's King of Games.

He brushed bangs soft as spun gold away from his face and smiled up at the tournament coordinator. Behind him, his best friend made a face.

Croquet didn't smile back. "You have reached the final round, as was expected of you. Tonight is the final match, held here, as you are aware. I trust you are prepared?"

Yugi nodded decisively, disguising his anxious excitement with a more professional detachment. Just because this was the largest tournament he'd ever played in - just because this was the only time he would face an unknown opponent - just because his grandfather desperately needed the money to keep up the Kame Game Store - he had no reason to get nervous, right? "Yes, I'm ready."

The great double doors at the end of the hall swung open. Yugi started at the echoing sound as sudden silence rippled through the clamor of the crowd.

Croquet smiled, a slight twitch of the lips, or was it just his imagination?

"Good. And now if I may present your opponent, Yami Takara," Croquet intoned, gesturing to the young man who had just swept through the open doorway and brought stunned quiet in his wake.

Yugi glanced over - and felt his jaw drop as the boy sauntered casually in his direction.

Beside him, Jounouchi stared. "Uh... Yugi, you wouldn't happen to have a secret brother or something, would ya?"

"Not that I know of," he murmured slowly, dazed. The resemblance the stranger bore to himself was uncanny - but... this boy...

Gorgeous. Slim and young, barely bigger than Yugi himself, all dusky golden skin and flashing eyes, the slightest hint of a smug smirk curving his firm lips when the crowds stilled and parted at his passing. Arrogant and calm and lethal, footsteps soundless as he padded down the length of the hall with the easy, restless grace of a jungle predator. Sex and sin in black leather, touched by ruby darkness and golden light. Around his neck, a golden pendant, a perfect match for Yugi's own, gleamed with an unholy brilliance under the harsh glow of the fluorescent lights.

Yugi's stomach started to twist into knots. This..._ this _was his opponent? He knew the name - everyone knew the name, undefeated in twenty countries, how could anyone not know his name? But until now nobody had known his face... and it was all he could do to keep from openly goggling.

_God, but he's beautiful..._

Brilliant crimson eyes widened as they fell upon him, sharp, catlike curiosity lighting the coolness of the boy's expression. He strode over, offering a brusque nod to Croquet, before his gaze returned to Yugi again.

Yugi barely heard Croquet's introduction. He was too busy staring._ I'm supposed to concentrate on chess while I'm staring across the board at **him**?_

Yami caught his eye as Croquet kept mumbling what might as well have been nonsense. Yugi felt himself slowly turning red as the inquisitive gaze swept the length of his body, intimate as a caress and twice as promising. Twice as dangerous - to his body and his soul.

But oh, so very beautiful.

"Gentlemen, shake hands."

Shake hands? With this darkling? Did he dare? The heavens only knew what could come of touching those slim, elegant fingertips, and could he risk it? Risk a touch?

Yami didn't give him a choice.

Yugi started at the sudden contact, a sharp spark racing down his spine. He glanced up, wide-eyed, at the slightly taller boy, whose sharp eyes had narrowed, pinning him with a searing, hungry gaze. His breath froze in his throat as the boy's cool hand squeezed his own.

_...and haven't I seen you in my dreams?_

Sharp scarlet softened into wine - a sight for only his eyes, he knew. _Hello, my pretty one_, he seemed to whisper without words. _I've been waiting for you..._

Yugi swallowed. _I think I've been looking for you_, he tried to reply, and thought he saw... something flit through his eyes, quick and bright and restless as a desert storm.

"Gentlemen?"

At Croquet's annoyed cough, Yami released his hand - and flashed him a grin that dripped with so much wicked mischief it made his breath freeze in his lungs. Yami Takara... a demon in a human disguise? Or just a boy with a devil's smile?

"This way, please."

Yugi blinked, dazzled, as the other fell into step beside him, almost close enough to touch... he shivered at the deliberate brush of slim fingertips against his side, playful and inviting, beaten gold ghosting delicately over midnight leather.

But he scooted closer just the same.

- - -  
-8:15 p.m.-

Impossible.

Ridiculous.

Ludicrous.

The trembling voice of the judge rang with strained disbelief as he pronounced the unthinkable. "Stalemate."

Two other voices, one dark and deep as velvet, the other soft and light as silk, echoed his proclamation in soft, thoughtful acknowledgment. Quietly, he wondered how many people noticed that the hands that had battled each other moments ago now rested quietly atop the chessboard, fingertips just barely brushing, the victors (and yet, who had truly won?) still focused entirely on each other.

Ebony and ivory. They painted a pretty picture, that was certain - twins and yet opposite in every way. Professionals in every fashion save the way they looked at each other. The game had been breathtaking and brilliant and fascinating - all because of the way they played. Behind every deep breath and every minute hesitation ran a thick undercurrent of a thousand unspoken questions and tensions - and the spectators couldn't help but hold their breath in wordless expectation. Every attack met with an elegant parry, every brilliant strategy rebounded against another, each more wickedly clever than the last. It could only be the most delicious artistry - the perfect clash of perfect opposites. The fascinated observers hadn't been the only ones enthralled - the champions seemed to feed off of each other, exchanging smug smirks and sultry smiles, racing against each other quick as lightning and crackling with energy.

Intellectual engagement had never been so electric, and the two were still panting from their exertions, eyes locked, fingers intertwined in the faintest of caresses.

Jounouchi snorted and shook his head in amazement. A draw. The tournament to end all tournaments... had ended in a draw.

Only Yugi could pull something like that off. Only Yugi.

Hm. The two drew back from each other as the vultures flooded into the room and descended upon them - but they didn't seem to stray very far.

He watched in bemused detachment as the matching pair was assaulted on all sides by shouted questions in the melee that was the press conference.

Yugi was charming and smiles and sweetness - a hint of a laugh lingering in the soft tones of his voice when he spoke, a flare of carefree grace as he turned to meet still another inquiry - while Yami was everything but, giving short, curt replies, arms folded tightly across his chest, ruby eyes glimmering with annoyance. It was hardly a wonder, then, that so many of their jabbering number fled from the stinging coolness of the elder to bask in the warm radiance that was Yugi. Strange - this near-twin posed almost a contradiction to everything that was Yugi... his brilliance shone all the brighter in the face of the stranger's darkness - but Yami's swirling shadows were made all the more vivid by the light.

Jounouchi shook his head and stood back as they fended off the torrent of never-ending questions.

That was odd... was Yugi blushing?

And just why was Yami standing oh-so-close to his best friend's side?

Jounouchi's eyes narrowed, but a suspicious smirk remained on his lips.

_Ooh! Yugi's got a crush! ...on a guy._

_Whoops._

_Didn't know he was gay._

_..._

_Huh._

_..._

_Yugi's got a crush!_

Yep. That was definitely a blush.

Considering that a photographer had somehow coaxed the two into squishing together with the decidedly creepy and scarily cheerful Pegasus for a photo, and their hands had discreetly and inexplicably locked together behind their backs, Jounouchi found that he couldn't quite blame him.

- - -  
-8:42 p.m.-

A furiously blushing Yugi fled his side as soon as he was able, and he lost sight of him in the ebb and flow of the crowd.

The reporters had finally rushed off, no doubt to drown themselves in the waiting arms of lovely waitresses, the swill of illicit substances and their own overfed egos.

That was all right with him. He planned much the same for himself - and for his intriguing little look alike. Now, where had his treasure gotten off to? Ah - over there, by the blonde boy who had been cheering him on before... a companion? Friend? Perhaps a lover?

His eyes narrowed as he stalked up to the pair. No matter. Stealing away young lovers was ridiculously easy - and his sweet-as-sugar twin already seemed distracted. If they were lovers, then the blonde couldn't be satisfying Yugi... strange, the boy didn't seem the type to have a wandering eye. But he would take care of that, at least for one night. A single night with the boy and he could be gone with the dawn - time enough and more to suit his purposes.

The blonde stiffened at his approach, drawing himself up and gesturing at Yugi for silence. Protection, no doubt, the boy fancying himself a self-appointed guardian to an angel in human form. Despite himself, Yami felt his lips curl in a cruel smirk. _Good._ He _should_ feel threatened. They always did. No matter who or what they were - they always did.

"Hey." The word was a low growl, and he resisted the urge to shatter the boy who barred his way. _You're wasting my time, child..._

"Yo," he greeted equally coldly, letting his gaze drift past the infuriating blonde, teeth gritted in annoyance. Ah - there he was. Beaming at a straggling fan, pale fingers lifted in a cheerful wave, the brilliance of his smile more than enough to illuminate the whole of the great room.

Beautiful.

Then the blonde nudged the smaller boy in the ribs.

Yami growled.

"Huh? Jou?" came the curious question as Yugi finished waving and turned back to look up at his friend, puzzlement draped prettily across the fine planes of his face.

The blonde snorted and jerked a thumb deliberately backwards.

Bright violet followed the motion, then blinked inquisitively up at him. "Oh! Yami!" Was it his imagination, or was there a hint of breathless expectation in his tone? How intriguing...

"Whaddya want, anyway?"

Damn that blonde.

"Nothing in particular," he answered as lightly as he was able, "I merely have a proposition for you two."

The blonde backed off a little, yielding control to his smaller companion, and Yugi took a cautious step forward. "Proposition?" he questioned softly, casting a wary glance over at his compatriot, who merely shrugged in response.

_Oh, so you don't care? Not his lover? Then he's free for the taking... and I do intend to take him._

Yami tried to disguise the smirk that lingered in his voice as he made his offer. "A night on the town - nothing more, nothing less. Come see the sights." _Come play my game, little one. I will not disappoint you._

Those hypnotic eyes were on him again, curious and calculating - and he couldn't help but hold his breath in anticipation. He _wanted_ this pretty creature, wanted him more badly than he even dared to admit.

How often had he met a worthy opponent? One brilliant enough to match him move for move, one that challenged and taunted and defied him, one that smiled like a thousand summers? When had an adversary ever been so innocently breathtaking?

The puzzle around Yugi's neck gleamed like hope and hatred and a millennia of forgotten promises, and without thinking, he raised a slender hand to cradle his own against his chest. Warm. It was always warm, but now the gold nearly shivered beneath his grasp - sunscorched summers gleaming with shimmering mirages that danced on the edge of belief and imagination...

_What does it mean? _he wondered, and watched in fascination as Yugi's slim fingers danced along the edges of his own puzzle, his soft lips curved in a thoughtful frown.

Desire, one of a thousand midnight games, now swirled enticingly around the slender body of his intended prize. And Yami was determined to win him - one way or another, the boy would be his. He would make sure of that.

But would his little treasure play his game?

Yugi glanced down at his feet, still absently toying with his pendant. "I..."

Yami leaned forward impatiently, ready to pounce. _Don't resist me, sweet one, don't fight it..._

"I accept," the little look alike whispered quietly, meeting his eyes for the barest of moments before looking shyly away.

Yami forced down the triumphant grin that threatened to curve his lips. "Good," he purred, delighted with the slight flush that graced Yugi's delicate features.

Brilliant, beautiful little boy. He watched with hungry eyes as slim fingers brushed golden bangs from his eyes and the tip of a pink tongue darted out to whet the full curve of his lips. Yugi gave him a sideways, expectant glance through his lashes, then turned his eyes down to fiddle with a wrist buckle. So shy and yet so curious, so innocent yet so very ready to play... an alluring mix of veracity and mystery. Pure as moonlight and twice as transfixing.

Oh yes... this would be fun.

He offered his hand.

With a shy, hesitant smile, Yugi twined pale fingertips into his own.

Yami smiled and drew the slender body close to his side - and the other boy didn't object.

Excellent.

Shimmering gold flashed brilliantly against deepest black.

Jounouchi stuffed his hands into his pockets and shuffled slowly behind them, eyes narrowed in suspicion, but still sparkling with mischief.

The matched pair hardly noticed him at all, caught up in exchanging shy looks and soft smiles, busy tracing careful fingertips over soft skin, slowly inching closer together with every lazy step that drew them languorously across the vast expanse of lush carpeting that hugged the marble floor.

The bright lights of the city caught in Yugi's hair as they stepped from the refined coolness of the lobby out into the heavy heat of a sultry summer night.

"Pretty thing," Yami murmured under his breath, gazing down at his prize covetously, and gently tugged the lovely creature at his side off into the welcoming embrace of the darkness.

Jounouchi hurried to catch up.

- - -

~ End Chapter One ~


	2. Sloth

- - -  
**_One Night in Bangkok_**  
**_by Edmondia Dantes_**

Disclaimer: I own all but the characters and the city.

AN: Welcome to Chapter Two. Still haven't changed anything from six years ago but the formatting. Revel in my laziness!

- - -  
_Chapter Two - Sloth_

-9:39 p.m.-

Now... where had this pretty stranger taken them?

He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light, thick lashes opening just a bit wider in surprise.

Well. This was new.

He'd never seen so much alcohol in one place before. The music was loud, the lights were low, and a low haze of cigarette smoke filmed the air. And people - hundreds of them in expensive evening garb, swirling and bobbing around the tables, money flying from hand to hand as quickly as the playing cards that decided their fate.

Yugi raised a delicate fist to his lips and coughed. Beside him, Jounouchi's eyes lit up in glee. "Hey, they've got a ton of games here!"

"I thought it would suit you," Yami commented to the slightly shorter boy at his side, ignoring the blonde's delighted outburst. Yami seemed to do a lot of that - and Jounouchi seemed to be ignoring him back.

Yugi blinked hard. His eyes were watering. His nose itched. And he flinched when a slim hand landed on his shoulder, turning wide, startled eyes up to his doppelganger.

Ruby eyes sparkled with delighted mischief. "Well?"

Those eyes were entrancing. Yugi mentally shook his head - _I don't even know him, I don't even know him, I don't even know him but he's gorgeous as hell! ...oh shit, what am I thinking?_

Yami was still waiting for his reply, and the thought of disappointing him sent a sour feeling to his stomach. So Yugi managed a tiny smile and a shrug - sure, this was his first time in a bar like this, sure, he didn't quite know what to expect, but if this guy knew what he was doing...

Yami flashed him another wicked smile that made his heart do flip-flops. He really had to stop doing that, otherwise Yugi was quite certain that he would die of a heart attack by the end of the night. "Then come play a game," Yami murmured enticingly, a slender arm slipping through his own as he tugged his smaller counterpart through the crowd.

Yugi spluttered, distracted by Yami's sudden, unexpected closeness. He was certain his face was bright red. "But I- I can't... my grandpa..."

"Isn't here," Yami interrupted smoothly, "So what's to stop you from having a little fun? You're old enough to gamble... and you can't tell me you won't win."

Yugi flushed still more. He had his talents, he could admit that much... "Well..."

"Well nothing," Yami snorted, deftly darting around a table full of raucously laughing drunks, "Play."

Yugi felt a small smile curve his lips. He did so love a challenge... and Yami's arm had slipped from his own only to wrap firmly around his waist. He doubted the older boy even knew it.

He pressed himself just a little bit closer as they made their way up a few steps to the card tables.

This would be fun.

_I think Yugi's getting into something he doesn't understand_, Jounouchi thought as he watched the two disappear into the crowd. _That guy's a weird one... sure seems fond of Yugi, though._

He'd seen the way the two looked at each other - like each found the other to be the most fascinating thing they'd ever seen. It was kinda creepy. Yugi was so damn fragile... maybe he wasn't giving him enough credit. Yami certainly didn't seem to want to hurt him, hell, it looked like all he wanted to do was bed him. And no wonder - the match of earlier had been intellectual foreplay as much as anything else, and anyone would have to be blind to not see the way they flowed together. Or those not-quite-hidden smoldering looks from behind long dark lashes whenever the cameras and the crowds couldn't see. Thickly veiled hunger, but bright and brilliant just the same, so long as you knew where to look. Yugi'd been dazzled, that much was certain - but from the soft seeking touches the stranger that wasn't kept brushing against his pale skin, he had a good idea that the other boy had been just as dazzled by Yugi.

Weird. Lust at first sight? ...well, stranger things had happened.

Yugi was having fun, that was for certain. Good for him - it wasn't like he'd ever dated, so Jou wasn't sure which gender he preferred, though he had seemed quite interested in Anzu before they had left. _Guess it doesn't really matter now_, he mused, _'cause that guy makes Yugi brighten more than anybody I've ever seen - even her. Well_, he thought with a sigh, _I just hope he doesn't get his heart broken. But somehow, I don't think that's gonna be the case. That Yami guy might be quite taken with him, but he'll be in for a surprise. Not many people can keep up with Yugi. Besides, it's about damn time Yugi got laid. Nobody should be that innocent at our age._

Speaking of which...

"Hey! Bartender! What's it take ta get some service around here?"

_Here's to you_, he saluted them both, and tossed back something sweet and thick and delicious. _Just don't break his heart._

For a moment, he wondered who, exactly, he was addressing.

- - -  
-10:07 p.m.-

Pathetic. And yet so damnably easy that he just couldn't stop himself.

Yami flashed the loser a cold, triumphant grin as he laid down his cards with a flourish. "Full house. You lose."

His opponent, a haggard and inebriated businessman, slapped a wad of bills on the table before stumbling to his feet and wobbling off into the crowd, moaning about how quickly his wife would kill him once he returned home without the mortgage money.

Yami shrugged and started counting his money, letting his eyes drift over to the table in the corner where Yugi sat, neatly cleaning out every man foolish enough to challenge him. A soft smile curved his lips as he watched Yugi's brow furrow in concentration, pearly teeth just barely visible as he gnawed thoughtfully at his lip. The boy really was adorable... no, beautiful. So very sweet and innocent, but with a mind like quicksilver and a hint of mischief lurking in his gorgeous eyes. He wouldn't mind waking up to those eyes for the rest of eternity...

What was he thinking? He just wanted him for one night! That was all he'd ever wanted! It wasn't like he wanted to keep the child...

But he wasn't a child. Not a child at all. He watched, fascinated, as Yugi flashed a brilliant grin, tossing down a card. His opponent's face fell, and the gangly man shoveled out a crumpled handful of bills before skulking off into the shadows. Yugi beamed as he collected his winnings, seeming to glow with childish delight. Such an intriguing puzzle, his Yugi...

_His_ Yugi?

He straightened unconsciously when those wandering amethyst eyes settled on his own. Yugi offered him a sweet, sly smile, then ducked his head shyly and turned back to his cards.

Yami smiled.

Gorgeous little thing. Perhaps... perhaps he could coax him into his bed for more than just one night. Would it truly be so bad to spend a little bit more time with this odd beauty? Something so soft and pretty and fragile... maybe, for just a while, maybe he would be able to keep him? Maybe he could... catch him and hold him long enough to play, long enough to win his bed for a few nights, long enough to capture his pretty body and his pretty self and see what his little one could do?

But first he had to catch his prey. He couldn't just ignore his future bedmate, could he?

Yami got up from his seat and melted through the crowds, intent on his mesmerizing little plaything.

_And if you've tumbled from heaven and into my arms tonight..._

Beauty so perfect must be a sin - or a miracle.

But why should the angels cast out their own child?

He paused suddenly, disconcerted. _...and why should they leave him to me?_

He watched his approach from the corner of his eye. Deftly ducking and weaving around tables and shouting gamblers, wending a curving way through the roiling sea of humanity, ever-graceful and lethal as arsenic sugar - oh yes, he was beautiful - and he knew it.

Yugi hid a smile as those captivating eyes settled on him.

Beautiful and deadly. He didn't know how he knew - but he did. And it should have frightened him, it should have terrified him, but it did not.

Perhaps that was the most frightening thing of all. He shouldn't be this drawn to a boy who was little more than a stranger. He shouldn't even be here gambling. He didn't like alcohol or people frivolously wasting money - but now here he was, swimming in it - relishing in the familiar ease of victory that ended every new battle. And, to be fair, there were challenges here... but a normal challenge to anyone else would only be easy pickings for himself. And this was the most money he'd ever made in his life - except for the check he and Yami would split for their winnings, and that from his last tournament. The last was already gone, money spent for his education and to support the game shop. It was so easy like this...

Was it so bad? His Yami was very alluring.

_His_ Yami?

...it was scary how much he liked the sound of that.

So it was with his best approximation of a sultry smile that he welcomed the other into his seat, and a soft sigh when warm, moist breath ghosted over his skin, the faintest of caresses, deceptively innocent and dripping with honeyed invitation.

"I missed you." The words were an intimate murmur, purred like milk and almonds against his ear, and his dark eyes were ember-bright and smoldering. Heat thickened around him as the slim body invaded his space, burrowing much too close for comfort, yet he savored the touch nonetheless.

Yugi arched an eyebrow, repressing a pleased shudder at the undisguised nuzzling - Yami was far from shy when it came to physical attention. And he smelled... good. Better than good. He was blushing again, dammit. "Did you?"

Leather, not his own, rubbed against his thigh. "Would I lie to you?"

He turned back to his cards, swallowing a nervous gulp. "You would."

Soft silk brushed, feather-soft and clinging, past his cheek. "Aa... not to you, precious one. Not to you."

He held no illusions. This creature - painfully alluring, yes, but darkness swirled as a living thing around him. How could he know that he wouldn't be tainted? "Wouldn't you?"

A smile, buried against his neck. Satan's child, what else could he be? But still so warm... midnight and madness and all the beautiful broken things that hid in the darkness and hunted on young innocence... "Iie... never you..."

Graceful arms slipped around his waist, and he shivered, but not from fear nor cold. Apprehension, or was it expectation instead? "Am I really so special?"

Yami chuckled, low and warm and deep in his throat. Perfection in a broken dream. "Why don't you find out?"

Yugi giggled in reply. Why not indeed? Wasn't the darkling his for the night? Innocent he might be, but he wasn't so naive as he seemed... and Yami made no effort to disguise his interest. "I think I will."

Yami smiled like a knife, but said nothing, merely rested his chin on Yugi's shoulder and peered thoughtfully at his cards.

Yugi shifted his weight carefully, eyes sliding halfway shut as a strong leg slipped between his own. The arms looped loosely around his middle tightened, dragging him back against a firm chest, deft fingers latching on to one of the belts slung around his hips. So strange... he'd never been this close to anyone, not even Anzu had ever clung onto him so tightly. But why was he thinking about her? This wasn't Domino City, they weren't even officially dating, and he was unattached.

Free for the taking.

Free to take whatever was offered him.

Yugi wriggled back slightly, half-surprised at the soft purr that buzzed pleasantly against his neck. _Yami... _ His lashes drooped still further at the soft brush of moist lips against his skin. _ But I guess I've already been claimed for the night_ - and the offer had been laid at his feet in the first instant he had clasped hands with his lovely stranger.

Yami inhaled softly, the sensation odd but thrilling as it rippled through the firm warmth of the body plastered against his own. "Pay attention... we have company."

"Company or prey?" he breathed, letting his fingers fan out over his deck. After a moment, warm gold drifted atop them. He held back a sigh as Yami's fingers twined intimately into his own, suddenly struck with an odd, crystalline realization, bright and shining in the smoky haze of his thoughts.

_We belong like this. I don't even know who he is... but he's mine now, at least for just one night. Catch what life you can when you can have it, because you'll never get it again - oh Grandpa, I don't think this is what you meant when you told me to chase after my dreams!_

"Hn. Does it matter?"

_And if my dreams are steeped in shadow... I hope you understand, because I'll never be able to explain it. Forgive me, grandfather - but it's so easy._

_For both of us. For everything._

Another swaying drunk staggered up to their table, and he hid his smile as best he could.

_I've finally found my match. It's taken me forever but I've found him and he's more beautiful and wonderful and stranger than I ever imagined._

Another warm chuckle rippled against his spine as the man tumbled into the vacant seat and goggled at them with bleary, red-rimmed eyes. No, the man posed no challenge to either one of them - but a willing fool with riches to spare...? He was only a poor college student. Could he afford to say no?

Of course not.

His free hand dropped unconsciously to his belt, fingers tucking into the warm curve of Yami's arm, prompting another velvet purr that sent a shiver coursing down his body and a flush spreading like spilled wine across his cheeks.

Of course not.

- - -  
-10:28 p.m.-

Jounouchi sat at the bar and sipped his drink, watching the proceedings with a smug smile.

Strange, really... he'd met Yugi long ago, had been an ass, and finally became a best friend through some miracle, and now he had to sit back and watch his best friend flirt with another guy. Funny, he hadn't known Yugi even _knew_ how to flirt like that. It was most likely completely unconscious of him, but Yami certainly seemed to be falling for it, if he wasn't mistaken. The arms currently wrapped around Yugi's waist seemed to be some indication that Yami was not uninterested in flirting back - and a bit more forcefully than Yugi was.

The way he leaned over and whispered suggestions into Yugi's ear seemed like a blatant clue. He kept toying with Yugi's hair, too, from what he could see, anyway.

The resemblance was really weird, though. How many people in the world had hair like _that_? And okay, Yami's was a little bit different, but that kind of style was just outrageous. Even considering that, what were the chances that they would have the exact same choice of clothing?

And dammit, what was with all those buckles anyway?!

His eyes widened, and he nearly choked on his drink. _Yugi! Forward, ain't ya? And here I thought you were shy! You couldn't even ask Anzu out without turning bright red, but this guy's all over you and you're just fine! And you? Sitting on his lap on the first date?_

But Yami certainly didn't seem to mind. In fact, it almost seemed like he had dragged Yugi there.

And Yugi... was practically purring in his arms.

Jounouchi stared at Yugi, at his drink, and back at Yugi again.

He downed the rest of his glass and winced as the alcohol burned his throat. _I'm gonna need to get drunk real quick if they're going this fast... best friend or not, there are some things I'd rather **not** see Yugi doing. Or things I'd rather not remember seeing Yugi do._

He took a final sip, and choked.

_Oi! Did Yami just stick his tongue where I think he did?!_

Judging by the fact that Yugi's complexion now more closely resembled a tomato than anything else, he was probably right.

His lips pursed in an appreciative whistle.

_...damn, he is **so** getting some tonight._

"Bartender! More of this stuff! God knows I'm gonna need it by the end of the night!"

- - -

~ End Chapter Two ~


	3. Pride

* * ***_  
One Night in Bangkok_****_  
by Edmondia Dantes_**

AN: The Pit's formatting needs to go DIAF, thanks. This thing used to be happy with the way it looked--has been for six years--and now it's all messy thanks to here.

* * *  
_Chapter Three - Pride_

-11:05 p.m.-

You could only spend so much time winning money off of hopeless alcoholics. So he'd brought his pair of tourists to another venue, a bit more refined and a bit more dangerous, but disguised as a run-down grocery store on a filthy back street hidden well into the shadows cast by the towering skyscrapers.

Yami hid a smug smile when Yugi took his arm, glancing around at his neon-lit surroundings with wary caution. Take care in the darkness... and how had he learned of such things? And why did that thought make bile rise in his throat and cause his fists to clench?

A soft nuzzle brushed against his shoulder, unconscious but sweet. His anger was gone, dispelled with only the simplest of touches. Silksoft skin, clean and smooth and smelling faintly of peaches. Heh. Yugi used girly shampoo. But still...

Delicious.

_Am I the leader?_ he asked silently, amused, sending an inquiring glance towards his slightly smaller counterpart.

Equally amused amethyst eyes flashed his way, and he couldn't help but wonder if Yugi knew what he was thinking. But Yugi only giggled and slid closer to his side, arm slipping down his side to latch firmly onto his waist.

_Or do I belong to you?_ he wondered as they swept into the second club of the night, Jounouchi trailing silently behind them.

_Why don't you find out?_ he seemed to tease silently, eyes brighter than the outside glow.

In the darkness of the entrance, hidden by shadows so familiar as to be the shredded souls of the damned, no one could see the predatory hunger of his smile.

Yugi felt his eyes widen as they slipped through the low-slung entryway. This place was far more sumptuous than the last. The lighting was, as always, a low butter yellow, casting the dark wood of the bars and lounges into a rich, glowing warmth. The men here were all dressed in rumpled suits, and dark-eyed waitresses served drinks to those that reclined on the low sofas scattered around the large room.

And the women.

Women, breathtakingly beautiful women, clad in shimmering silks and tight leather all around, hanging over smug businessmen and dancing on the floor with their chosen partners. Not just women - here and there lay beautiful doe-eyed boys tangled in the grasp of older lovers.

A brothel? A nightclub? Both?

Yugi flushed and pressed unconsciously closer to Yami.

Now he felt like a child.

"Why so shy?" Warm breath tickled his ear, soft and erotic and tasting of honey.

Yugi glanced over, saw the soft smirk on his lips, and shivered.

_What are we doing here? You know it's you I want... you and only you. I'm not sharing you. Not tonight. Not ever._

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Jounouchi's appreciative glance at his surroundings. He should probably close his mouth - the slackjawed look didn't go very far towards impressing... er... ladies of the night.

_So that's why we're here? Entertainment for us all. Been here often, have you? Dragged some other innocent here - or did you play with those whose affections are for sale?_

The arm around his waist tightened, a slim hand slipping down his back only to settle comfortably in his back pocket. He stiffened, but couldn't object - it would be far too dangerous to lose him in a place like this. So many willing lovers... any would find a night with this creature a prize. _And he's my prize. I won him. These people - they might be beautiful, but he's too brilliant for them. He's too brilliant for anyone..._

A soft, experimental squeeze coaxed a short gasp past his lips. _Except... he wants me. And what does that say about me? I'm not half so bold or daring..._ and wasn't it strange how he could claim his own innocence when the touch of a boy who was little more than a stranger sent chills down his spine and heat swirling in his stomach?

Beside him, Yami threw back his head and laughed, all velvet and chocolate and decadence, gold and ruby and deepest ebony.

The hunger-shrouded gazes that fell upon them gleamed with desire, whether for himself or his companion, he was uncertain. _But no... you can't touch us tonight._

Yugi rubbed himself deliberately against Yami, glaring down the envious eyes of the others, pressing heavily against his darkling's soft, insistent attentions, delicate half-caresses and lingering touches that made his stomach melt. Another arm slipped around him, tight and unquestionably possessive, the other boy clinging so closely to him that they were almost stumbling over each other as they sauntered slowly through the room.

_Mine for tonight... all mine. You can't have him._

_And you can't have me._

_He'd kill you first._

_I know he would._

When they tumbled to a stop at the bar, he was flushed with heat and desire, and warm and distracted by the press of the slim body at his side.

And when he leaned away to fetch his drink, the pang of loss he felt burned like a mortal wound.

Pouting unhappily, he reached out and caught Yami's slender arm between his fingertips - and when Yami turned back to him with a mischievous glint in his slanted eyes, Yugi found himself nearly swept onto his lap again as he leaned against a bar stool and raised some small round snack to his lips.

His mouth fell open in surprise, and Yami, a soft smirk toying at his lips, fed it to him delicately - but something flickered in his expression when Yugi took a long moment to suck the sticky sauce off of his fingertips.

"It's sweet," he breathed, pulling away gently, licking his lips to savor the taste of his skin, "Very sweet."

Yami's eyes darkened as alluringly as the soft tones of his voice. "You're so much sweeter, my little hikari." _So much sweeter..._

_Hikari?_ Suddenly embarrassed, Yugi ducked his head shyly, staring down at heavy gold and black leather. _Oh God, I haven't even known him for three hours and I've already got a pet name._

He tried to repress the little thrill that ran down his spine, but it didn't work.

Behind them, Jounouchi snorted into his drink and turned away, attention caught by a flash of swirling lavender.

Yami sipped his drink slowly, one arm supporting Yugi, deliberate ruby staring thoughtfully at the gleaming puzzle that dangled around his neck.

Yugi watched and blushed as the people danced - it wasn't dancing, it was... making out in public, it was slow groping to music, it was...

It was something he would very much like to do with his darkling.

_After all, if angels can dance... why not demons?_

He reached up to caress his puzzle - but his hand landed on Yami's instead.

- - -  
-11:20 p.m.-

Katsuya Jounouchi dropped his drink and his jaw at the same time.

Perhaps he was going mad. That creature certainly couldn't be human - could positively not be of this world. No earthly being could be so captivating.

No woman could be so alluring.

A sultry smile and a cascade of honey hair as she danced, teasing and flirting, but never staying long enough for a touch.

She was a goddess.

Jounouchi felt his heart stop as she twirled by in a flash of lavender and perfume, sending a teasing wink in his direction.

Beautiful like a heart attack, breathtaking like a car wreck, ravishing as a thunderstorm.

And then she was gone, quick as an illusion or a mirage or fleeting madness, and he knew he had to find her again.

So maybe running around interrogating a bunch of people who didn't speak Japanese wasn't the best way to go about things, but after being slapped seven times and punched once in the gut, he finally managed to corner a tight-lipped dancer who spoke enough of his language to be intelligible.

"Who is she?"

A blank, beautiful look from a pale woman with a face like a mask.

He gestured to where she had been.

The rosebud mouth turned in distaste, forming foreign syllables that rolled awkwardly off her pink tongue. "Ma... Mai. Kujaku."

He blinked as he tried to wade through the thick accent and barely concealed disgust. Did she say Mai Kujaku?

The dark-eyed woman was gone before he could check.

But he had a name now - and it was perfect.

Jounouchi straightened from his customary slouch, ran a hand through his unruly hair, and set out to find his cloistered goddess.

_Ow. _ He rubbed at his reddened jaw gingerly. _ I hope this doesn't bruise..._

- - -  
-11:36 p.m.-

Three fucking hours she'd been dancing, and what did she have to show for it? Nothing!

Fucking managers. "No, Mai, no money for you tonight. You helped Anzu leave with that Chinese man, no, you stay and work off her debt."

Her ankles killed, her head ached, and a distinct urge to mercilessly slaughter whomever she next encountered was rising in her chest.

_Fucking. Managers. Argh. Kill. Die. Die. Die._

A soft, inquiring knock on the door.

_Oh, **hell** no._

She looked up from unrolling her stockings, incensed, and hurled the nearest shoe at the door. "Go to hell!"

The door opened, and instead of her manager, the flying shoe hit a young man smack in the face.

"Ack!"

Thud.

Killing customers. That was bad, wasn't it? "Oops."

A muffled groan erupted from the figure sprawled out on her dressing room floor. "Ow."

She poked him with a foot.

He rolled over, rubbing his head, and looked up at her with a playful smile, honey eyes sparkling with mischief. "Hey," he greeted cheerfully, waving up at her.

Japanese? He sure didn't look it - but then again, neither did she. And it was a nice change from the clunky tongue she'd never been able to make sound natural.

She ran her eyes appraisingly across him, and felt a small, delighted smile tug at her lips.

Hm. This wasn't one of those rich bastards - she doubted he was even a customer. His eyes were much too innocent. He didn't look like the type who even carried the kind of cash she usually demanded. But he was pretty cute... pretty young, judging by the eager way he ran his eyes over her figure. No subtlety, but damn, his eyes were gentle. "Hey," she answered in kind, relieved to be speaking her native language again. It had been a long two years here.

He sat up, offering her shoe, accompanied by a dashing smile. Rather bemused, she accepted it.

"I'm Katsuya."

First name only? How strange... "Mai." She offered her hand.

"Pleased ta meet ya, Mai," he said softly, and kissed her fingertips as though she were a lady and not just another call girl.

Very cute. Very young. And very, very sweet.

She felt that silly grin get bigger. Okay, now she was officially insane. "Likewise."

"So, Mai... if you're done for the night, do you wanna get a drink?" he grinned impishly.

She really should kick him out. Or at least demand payment upfront.

She did neither. Instead, she offered him a hand up, slightly surprised by how quickly he bounced to his feet. "I'd be delighted," she purred, and held back a gleeful laugh when he flushed.

He stood and fidgeted shyly when she changed into her favorite (and extremely comfortable) boots, and blinked in surprise when she exchanged her delicate bracelets and rings for fingerless gloves - but seemed quite pleased with the change from ephemeral beauty to everyday goddess.

"Well?" she asked when finished, tossing her head proudly. It's not silk and jewels, kid, so are you gonna stay or run?

She looked up into a wide-eyed gaze. "...I think I love you," he murmured, a dazed grin on his face.

Mai blinked. _Little impulsive, aren't you? _ "You're not the first one to say so, kid."

He held open the door like a gentleman, beaming. "But I bet ya I'm the first one to mean it."

Much to her own surprise, she blushed.

He slung a casual, comfortable arm around her waist and laughed like sunshine and summer.

And Mai Kujaku, for the first time in several years that had dragged on like eternity, giggled in sheer delight.

- - -  
-11:43 p.m.-

"Dance with me."

Yami blinked, certain he hadn't heard right. He looked down into a brilliant grin and a shining pair of eyes and smiled indulgently. What had happened to his shrinking violet? He had been soft and pink for the entirety of their... rather unconventional entrance. Now? The flush had faded from his cheeks, but his lips were rosy and parted, and his expression bright and sly.

"What?"

"Dance with me," Yugi repeated patiently, plucking the drink from his hand and setting it on the counter, staring up at him challengingly, a hint of mockery glimmering in the impish tilt of his head.

Dance? With Yugi?

Yugi flashed him a coy smile and wrapped his arm casually around his waist, sliding his free hand flirtatiously up his chest, pausing to linger at the puzzle before dancing his way up the chain. A delicate finger tapped his lips, and he nipped at the slim digit, a bit disappointed when Yugi pulled his hand away with a soft 'tsk' of displeasure, a soft, chastising admonishment, reprimanding him for his teasing.

_I'll let you play with me... but only as long as I can play with you_, Yugi murmured without speaking, dark lashes thickly shading the smoldering heat lurking in the deep amethyst of his gaze.

Hmm. A game? To dance with his gorgeous Yugi all wrapped up in leather and clutched tight in his arms?

_I can manage that_, he thought wickedly, and let Yugi drag him out to the dance floor.

Everything to win and nothing to lose.

Holy Ra, but he was perfect.

- - -  
-11:50 p.m.-

Maybe dancing hadn't been such a good idea. The place specialized in sultry music, and he had his arms wrapped around a strong chest and his face buried against Yami's neck. His hormones were going absolutely crazy.

Yugi sighed softly, swaying easily to the beat, feeling far more comfortable than he should. Slender hands wandered over his back and through his hair, distracting and warm, and he could feel a steady heartbeat against his chest.

_Yami..._ he thought blissfully, shifting closer to that slim form, _Yami, I don't know anything about you, but I think I'm falling in love with you. Well... at the very least, I'm falling in lust. And here I thought I was straight... mmm... doesn't matter, does it? Not when I have you all to myself... even if it's only tonight, I'll have you, won't I? At least once in my life... at least once I'll have someone to love. Even if you only want my body, it doesn't matter, because I'll have yours as well. But somehow... it'll never be enough. Because I already want you for forever... but I can make do with just tonight._

The other's head dipped, and Yugi held his breath as Yami nuzzled his hair affectionately. He smelled of spice and autumn and desert, like heat and gold and the rising sun. Enticing, exotic, and thrilling - just like him.

He shivered as warm lips ghosted over his ear. _God, do you even know what you do to me?_

Yugi blinked as slender arms tightened possessively around his waist, one hand sliding up his back to settle in his hair. He pulled back a little, staring with some surprise into dark, brilliant crimson. _And tell me, hell's forgotten child - do you want me as much as I want you?_

"Yugi..." Yami whispered, seeming to savor the sound of his name. He could taste his breath now, soft and warm against his face. So very very close to this familiar stranger...

He let his eyes flutter shut as he leaned upwards to claim his first kiss, heart in his throat and trembling.

Slam. Thud. A scream.

"EVERYBODY FREEZE!"

Yugi blinked and jerked violently back from Yami, eyes flying open.

Police. Pouring in through the doors, guns drawn.

Chaos.

Screaming, running, half-dressed women and the men in their rumpled suits, drinks flung backwards in the faces of the law enforcement as they fled. The crowd moved as one - and Yami grabbed his hand and yanked him along with the flow.

_Funny_, Yugi thought dazedly through the scramble of bodies and the press of the crowd, _I didn't expected my first date to be busted up by the cops._

...but Yami?

He frowned and tried not to trip over an upturned couch.

...then again, why should he be surprised? It was Yami. The strangers in the darkness - weren't they the most dangerous ones of all?

Dangerous?

Thick swirling ebony sparking with ruby and gold. Oh, yes, this boy was dangerous. But... to him?

Darkness.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful darkness.

They ducked out a side exit and darted down a flight of stairs, dodging bodies and staggering drunks and women clutching closed half-torn robes and dropping silk and jewels as they fled.

Though their owners were squished between the walls and each other and the crushing rush of people, the twin puzzles that hung like shattered heaven from their necks never lost their unearthly shine.

- - -  
-12:02 am-

They spilled out of the back entrance and into the street like torn silk and splashed brandy, scattering and fleeing every which way into the safety of the darkness and the havens of a thousand crumbling corners that opened only for their children.

Jounouchi held onto Mai's hand and prayed that Yugi had made it out of there in one piece.

But going back inside to check would be suicide.

"Katsuya?"

He bit his lip, but looked at her with a smile. "Yugi will be all right. But right now... we better get out of here!"

She smiled, and the world was beautiful. "So where are we going?"

He considered for a moment. Why not crown the fallen princess? "Know the Banyan Tree Hotel?"

She blinked at him in consternated surprise. "Doesn't everyone?"

He gave her a brash grin. "'S my hotel. Wanna come?"

She tossed back her magnificent hair and laughed. "How'd a punk kid like you get in there?"

He blushed and toed the ground shyly. "I got connections. So... you coming?" And he gave her a bashful look from under his bangs.

_Please, God_, he prayed fervently, _let her come with me._

When she beamed, her eyes sparkled like rare jewels. "Hell yes!"

_God, I love you!_

Hand in hand they raced off into the protective cover of the steamy night.

Jounouchi found, to his annoyance, that he couldn't get his stupid grin unstuck from his face.

Mai tossed him a flirty wink and pressed a kiss against his cheek, and right then he knew he was doomed.

_I swear I'm gonna marry this girl some day_, he thought blissfully, and his stupid grin got even bigger.

- - -

AN: And that's the last we hear from them because I suck a lot. But they make it back okay.


	4. Wrath

* * *  
**_One Night in Bangkok_**  
**_by Edmondia Dantes_**

AN: Nope, still nothing. Move along.

* * *  
_Chapter Four - Wrath_

-12:08 am-

This was the bad part of town.

Yami Takara knew that.

No one would follow them there. The police were too wary, the locals too careful, and he himself... well, he was himself.

Skulking in the shadows and hiding in the darkness was nothing new to him - but for once in his life, he wasn't alone, and he had to watch his Yugi, he had to hold his hand and guide him, keep him safe in the darkness -

And so he didn't have time to think before they were upon him.

He dodged out of the way of the largest of their number, but wasn't quick enough to get past the second one.

_Shit!_

A familiar yelp jarred the steady pounding of his heart in his ears, and he paused in the midst of breaking someone's nose.

_Yugi._

The fucking bastards had gotten to Yugi.

Yami slammed his elbow into the third thug's fleshy neck and lunged for the delicate body lying slumped in the gutter.

Ugly laughter reached his ears, but he ignored it. He ignored the money scattered across the grimy street, he ignored the delighted cries as they scooped it up, he ignored the steady shriek of sirens fading in the background.

Instead, he scraped mud out of his tangled hair and scrambled forward, pulling the light form onto his lap.

After a moment of frenzied panicking, thick lashes fluttered and parted, dark as soot against his pale cheeks. "...hnn?" Another dazed blink. "Yami?"

Yami closed his eyes and whispered a prayer of thanks, to what deity, he didn't know. He'd never been religious... had he?

Yugi sat up with a groan, looping an arm around his shoulders with a wince. "Itai..."

He pressed a kiss absently against the damp mass of his hair, cradling him closer. Fragile beauty, so soft and breakable, they knew it, fuck the bastards, they knew! Where the hell had they gone?

He glared out into the night, but soft searching fingers slid down his side and he turned down and oh, he was beautiful like this, wasn't he? "What do we do now?" Yugi questioned, tugging gently at his shirt, looking very vulnerable, and very lost. So young...

Yami grinned fiercely down at his broken angel. "We get our money back."

In the shifting shadow, Yugi bit his lip anxiously, but nodded.

Stealing from thieves, after all, was hardly a crime.

And revenge would just be an added bonus.

- - -  
-12:25 am-

His Yami possessed talents that in anyone else would have terrified him. How anyone could track anything in the muggy heat and shifting shadows was completely beyond him, yet here he was, standing on a fire escape and watching a twisted playtime.

They stood silently above their number, watching. Yugi leaned calmly over the rusted railing, eyes narrowing as he saw them toss the wallet that contained their precious check between each other, chortling over their victory.

Bastards.

He wasn't scared of them.

He wasn't scared of anything.

Not at all.

A soft growl pierced the thick quiet. He glanced over, and in the dim lights of a cheap rooftop bar he saw that same demon's smile - and it made him glad.

Why fear the darkness when all the darkness desires is you?

Soft hands settled on his shoulders, light as a spring zephyr. But never so innocuous. Never so pure. Never.

Soft, considering tones wound into his ear like a promise of mischief and pain. "...we have a game before us."

Yes. Now how to play? "So we do."

He could hear the cruelty of his smirk. "...shall we?"

Yugi leaned back into his shadow, inhaling spice and melted sugar, fingers impulsively tracing along the firm curve of his hip. "So we shall."

A warm chuckle rumbled against his back. "I never lose."

Yugi let a smirk of his own touch the softness of his mouth, safely hidden by the darkness. "Neither do I."

Moist lips brushed his neck, slender hands reaching around him to cup the golden puzzle that gleamed against his chest.

A smile touched the decadent fullness of his Yami's mouth, soft and deadly and hidden against his skin. "The unsolvable puzzle..."

Not so anymore. Puzzle or puzzles, or a match or a mate? Equal opposites, or two parts of a whole? Either way... "I solved it."

"As did I," he whispered, and when he spoke, sharp teeth scraped lightly against fair flesh.

Yugi took in a deep breath of heavy air, half-stifled by shyness and secrecy, half-dazed with slow, wet craving. "I dreamt of you."

Stillness, calm and considering and somehow breathless and entranced all the same. "...I know."

Below, soft skittering, the men laughing and throwing their money between them like a plaything. Distracted, he didn't notice the soft sigh that stirred equally soft crimson as Yami nuzzled his face into his hair.

"...time to play."

He didn't tremble. "...yes."

Time to win.

- - -  
-12:32 am-

They touched his Yugi and they stole his money.

They were going to die.

And he was going to relish it.

They stared with wide eyes as he melted out of the shadows - and attacked when the first of their number fell.

Seven to one?

No contest at all.

They rushed at him in a clumsy mass, street fighters or no - and he plotted and planned and smiled as they came.

Children.

Fools.

Weaklings.

The familiar shadows that kept a restless watch in his soul stirred in anticipation - and he was careful to hide his glee in the face of their attack.

_Prey._

- - -  
-12:35 am-

Blood splashed along the side of the alleyway.

Another sickening crunch resounded through the night. He winced and peered through slitted lashes as another body tumbled to the ground, suddenly very, very still and quiet.

The wrath of a god or a demon? Why could he never tell?

Yugi flinched as he stepped awkwardly over the broken bodies, strewn like discarded toys across the alleyway.

_Dangerous?_ he wondered, watching his Yami (_his_ Yami) casually kick in someone's already broken ribs. _Downright sadistic. A bully with a just cause. How strange. How perfect. How right._

He could only hope that they weren't dead. All the rest he could push out of his mind - but not murder. Even he could not forgive such a crime...

Not even for his fallen angel.

_Anything else..._

He shook his head and plucked his battered wallet from an unresponsive hand.

So still. So empty.

The night was warm and muggy, but a chill ran down his spine.

Heat and light and passionate brilliance - but so very cold, somehow. Frozen ebony flame all but danced around him as he flew, and the taste of untamed magic burned on his tongue.

_Am I the one to save your soul?_

A velvet laugh, thick and deep as chocolate laced with a thousand knives.

_Or am I damning my own?_

A flash of perfect white teeth, brilliant and sharp in the shadows, as he danced gracefully away from some blurred threat.

_Or are you here to heal me?_

A thud, a scream, and a soft silken chuckle, half-steeped in madness, that curved around his body like a caress.

_Or are you here to break me?_

Crimson met his gaze, shimmering as brightly as the blood that spilled all around him, hungry and smug and glittering with delight.

_...or are you here to love me?_

He turned away from sweetest insanity and began the search for his prize.

_...and do I dare to believe it?_

- - -  
-12:41 am-

Pathetic. Seven against two, and who had won?

He dropped the unconscious body only after plucking a heavy snakeskin wallet from a bulging pocket. A snort of disgust escaped him. A dealer, no doubt, just finished with a sale. They were small bills, crumpled and worn, but numbering close to a hundred. He had the look and the money.

Bastard.

Leech.

Thief.

The restless clawing in his chest settled slightly as he wiped the blood off of his hands with a silken handkerchief that he had untucked from the satin lining of an expensive jacket.

But... he did so love to hear them scream.

Yami couldn't stop a soft smile from touching his lips. _...so you try to take what is mine?_

He let his eyes roam over the slender form that bent gracefully beside another fallen body, watching soft hands check a pulse here, check for steady breathing there, Yugi wincing and biting at his delicate lip as he carefully rearranged a broken arm that had been twisted backwards and shattered. _ ...you hold no malice. None at all. No shadows in your soul. How can you be human?_

In the humid warmth of midnight, he was unreal, a mere fantasy made flesh for just a moment, for just a breath of new air, for just long enough to make him crave an eternity.

Yugi Motou.

He drew in a ragged breath, ribs aching, lungs straining for oxygen. Drowning or dying or both? _Yugi..._

The dark flash of sudden hunger flaring in his own mind surprised him. _Mine._

Red and blue flared in the entrance of the alley.

"Shit!" Yami hissed, shocked out of his reverie, hurriedly yanking a delicate gold chain from around the neck of the smallest thug. "Yugi, are you-?"

He was already on his feet and to the other side of the street.

_Brilliant boy_, Yami thought, and smiled as he sprinted after.

A slim hand slipped into his even as they darted down another half-hidden alleyway, dodging drug-addled human wreckage and filth.

_...so they cast you down from heaven?_ he questioned silently while the loud streets and bright lights flashed by like broken jewels lying scattered in the wake of their unplanned flight.

_Fools._

He twined his fingers into Yugi's as they dodged around a weary-looking prostitute and her small crowd of clients. Nothing was off-limits - money or drugs or sex, which to choose?

_I choose you - and I'll never let you go._

Clear, bright eyes flickered at him, and in the shadows of hell, Yugi smiled like heaven.

- - -


	5. Gluttony

* * *  
**_One Night in Bangkok_**  
**_by Edmondia Dantes_**

AN: Now I know why I didn't repost this before. Because doing all this reformatting is annoying as hell.

* * *  
_Chapter Five - Gluttony_

-1:03 am-

"Have they stopped chasing us?" he gasped, lungs burning, throat aching, heart pounding painfully against his ribs.

"Almost - almost - but I know places they don't. Go this way!"

They dove blindly into an alleyway and kept running, feet slapping on the pavement, overly-loud in the sudden quiet - it was not silent, the city never was, but the darkness of the shadows made even the bravest souls hesitate, and the bodies they now dodged would take days to find and identify - not that anyone cared enough to try.

And still they ran, past drug houses and whorehouses and every kind of mutilated human wreckage. For a while, all he could think of was running, guided only by the slender hand curled into his own and the soft rhythm of their feet.

"...ah!"

He blinked. "H- huh?"

"Here," Yami mumbled, seizing him by the waist as they skidded to a forceful stop, nearly tripping over each other.

Yugi blinked sweat out of his eyes and squinted. He couldn't see anything except a few grungy doors, lit by a broken neon sign that flashed erratically down the street.

Yami let go of him to shoulder in a door made indistinguishable from the walls by years of dust and grease.

With only a slight hesitation, Yugi followed the beckoning hand. Behind them, the heavy door slid shut with a rumble and faint explosion of dust.

Overturned tables and shattered furniture lay wraithlike in the gloom.

And he tumbled onto Yami's lap when both slumped to the floor in sheer exhaustion.

Warm. So warm.

He let his lashes droop as Yami curled into him, nuzzling his face into the crook of his neck.

_So warm... don't leave me... my warmth... mine._

And in the arms of his darkness, he slept.

He dreamt of bloodstained gold and passion and heat and sunlight glaring on desert sands.

He woke a moment or an hour later, blinking sleep out of heavy eyes, back sore from lying on a cold floor, chest and legs warm and tingling from the boy curled up against him.

Drowsy crimson glanced up from somewhere around his stomach, and the warm body just snuggled closer as Yugi flushed.

"...hi."

"Hi."

They regarded each other in thoughtful silence, too dazed by sleep to speak aloud.

_You're still here._

_I'd never leave you._

_Never and never and never._

Yugi yawned, raising a slim hand to rub sleepily at a thickly-lashed eye.

Bright crimson widened in delighted surprise. _Kawaii!_

And Yami pounced. It was ungraceful and clumsy and he was still half-addled by his own exhaustion, but Yugi giggled and batted at the playful hands clutching his shoulders, not at all perturbed by the heavy weight sprawled across his middle.

Yami purred contentedly, rubbing his nose distractingly against the curve of his neck. "Nnn. Warm."

_Yami..._

A softly inhaled breath. "...beautiful."

Yugi shivered. _Do you mean me?_ he wondered, and that hungry gaze slipped down his body like a caress.

_Who else?_ he laughed, and stroked long fingers down the soft curve of his cheek, then delicately traced the contours of his shy smile.

So dark. So rich. So warm. So hungry. And so very, very beautiful. How could he resist? Without thinking, Yugi reached up and curled his fingers into thick crimson hair as he pressed gently against Yami, tilting his head up, eyes sliding shut.

He thought he felt him sigh as their lips met for the first time. _Finally..._

Warm and wet and velvet, tasting of thick sweetness, strong heat wrapped all around him. His lips parted shyly beneath soft, insistent coaxing, and the world seemed to crystallize around him. Yami moaned softly into his mouth as the kiss deepened, pressing still closer, and Yugi mewled hungrily as the tentative exploration slowly grew bolder.

So good... soft and searching and slick and curious and so so so hungry and his darkness tasted so so so so good...

This was everything. His Yami was everything. The world could go straight to hell, because this was his Yami holding him close and petting his hair and kissing him desperately, and this was all that existed in the world.

_Yes..._

Then the boarded-up door collapsed into the room, sending a thick plume of grime and dust into the air.

A wild-eyed cadaver of a man came with it.

They broke apart and stared through the thick cloud of dust that hovered in the air like so much smoke. Overly-loud music poured through the jagged entryway like so much old wine, carrying with it the scent of a thousand cheap highs and week-old stale perfume.

Yugi shoved Yami back and staggered drunkenly to his feet, cuddling unconsciously close as Yami regained his own footing. They swayed uncertainly for a moment - but only a moment.

Half a minute later, Yugi stepped around broken glass and shattered tables, ever-conscious of the half-protective, half-possessive hand on his arm. Yami followed him silently across the room, grip tensing as they approached the unconscious man.

Yugi poked the slumped form cautiously with the tip of a steel-toed boot, kneeling carefully at the man's side when his prodding evoked no response.

_Shit... is he dead?_

Yami slid gracefully down behind him, settling lightly on his heels in the thick pile of plaster dust and drywall debris. Hesitantly, Yugi reached out, only to have his hand snatched back by the other.

"You don't know where that's been," Yami murmured, leaning forward and resting his chin on Yugi's shoulder. "...the eyes. See how sunken they are? See how pale he is?"

_...how can I? With the plaster coating his face, he might as well be a ghost! Falling through a wall... what is he on?_

Yugi shivered. A consequence of flirting with the night...

"Hmn. Pity he doesn't have anything useful on him. Figures, I suppose..."

Lifting from the addicted? Retribution for a slight was one thing, but this?

A slender hand flicked greasy bangs away from the ghoulish face.

"...damn. Almost dead."

_What?!_

Yugi twisted in his arms, turning an anguished gaze up to his Yami. _Help him!_ he begged silently, tugging on the chain around his neck.

Warm crimson shot him a puzzled look. _...but there's nothing I can do._

_...shit._

Yugi bit his lip and tried not to cry.

"I'm sorry," Yami murmured into his hair, drawing him up and away from the man. "He chose his own path - and must face the consequences of what he's done. Come on, leave him be..."

_But I can't!_

"Hikari..."

_Gods, I'm not, I'm **not**!_

He opened his mouth to protest - and found it covered by Yami's own.

Slender hands lifted him up and backwards, and they melted into the shadows together. He stared into blood-drenched rubies and raised a brow in silent question.

Yami nibbled lightly on his lower lip, turning his gaze over Yugi's shoulder to peer at the hole in the wall. Yugi followed his line of sight, trying not to squirm as the soft pressure grew a bit harder, the tip of his tongue flicking out to dart into his mouth.

Three men staggered into the room, eyes wild and dangerous, and Yami's grip on his waist grew almost painfully tight. Instinctively, his eyes fluttered nearly shut, and he leaned up and into his darkling, pressing back hard against the wet warmth of his parted lips.

Soft mumbling, words he couldn't understand, and he knew they were judging them both.

_We haven't seen anything, we don't see you, can't you tell how busy we are?_

And the men ignored them. They scooped up their comrade, and vanished just as quickly as they had come.

Yugi thought he caught a glimpse of a wicked-looking knife tucked into a pair of unlaced combat boots, but couldn't be certain. His hands tightened anxiously on Yami's shoulders, and he pulled back for a moment, unnerved.

"Those men... they-mmph!"

Never mind talking.

They were gone, and the cadaver-man with them.

So what did it matter?

He shifted forward and sank his fingers into crimson-stained ebony.

A soft, slow purr was the only reply.

- - -  
-1:48 am-

Yugi finally pulled away, panting for air, turning a dazed but mischievous gaze up at him. "So."

His rosy lips were soft and wet and sweet. Pretty thing. Summer and sweetness and light. "So?"

Yugi rubbed gently against him, sinking his hands into his pockets distractingly. He'd make a devastating thief... or one hell of a prostitute. "So tell me something."

Blink. Blink. _Um... you want me to talk while you're groping my ass? What makes you think I can think right now? _ "Yes?" he managed after a moment, sounding much more composed than he felt in the face of his little hikari's teasing.

Hesitation flickered in the warm depths of his eyes. He looked adorably childlike when he blushed. "Ano, Yami-chan, how many uh... bars are there like this in the city?" and he pointed to the wall, removing his hands to do so.

Yami glared at the wall. _ Die, wall. _ "Thousands. But this one seems to have popped up out of nowhere."

Yugi purred throatily, providing a lovely distraction as he wondered what other noises he could coax this pretty thing into making. "So you didn't know it was here?"

"I'm rather annoyed that it's here." _DIE, bar-thing behind the wall._

This did not stop Yugi from dragging him through the hole in the wall and into the crowded, dingy, heat-hazed room, the thick air flavored by a thousand sickly-sweet quick hits and sweat and alcohol and sex and blood and vomit.

Yugi fisted delicate hands and planted them on his hips, surveying the room with a critical eye. "Well, I never thought I'd say this..."

He tore his eyes away from the enticing curve of his backside. Since when had he been so easily distracted? Oh. Since Yugi had stuck his tongue down his throat, that was it. He needed to get Yugi to do that again. "Hm?"

"But let's get a drink."

Blink. Blink. _Yugi?_

"I'm thirsty."

Blink. Blink. _My Yugi?_

A soft, sly smirk, sweet and painfully alluring. "That lady with no shirt on is flirting with me."

_Bitch!_ "...excuse me while I go kill her."

Soft hands toyed with the puzzle around his neck. "Yami. Drink. You. Me. Dancing."

This was pathetic of him, it really was. Where had his willpower gone? "...very well."

Sharp teeth nipped gently at his fingertips, Yugi's soft tongue darting out to lap and suckle lightly at his skin. He choked on a breath of air, staring down into eyes that were intoxicatingly dark. "Come on."

He watched with wide eyes as the slender figure melted into the eager embrace of the mad crowd. Ever-so innocent...

Perhaps not.

He sent a dozen laughing addicts sprawling as he sprinted after his leather-clad hikari.

_Don't even **think** about touching him! He's mine! Mine mine mine!_

They got the hint when he pinned the slim warmth that was Yugi up against the bar and stole his drink directly from the soft curve of his lips.

_Mmm... yes, yes, mine..._

Soft little fingertips curled into his hair, his hikari purring in velvet appreciation, delicate mouth opening willingly beneath his own.

Slick silken heat and aching sweetness -

He tasted even better that way.

- - -  
-1:52 am-

The music was loud and fast and heavy enough to drive an innocent mad.

Perfect for a smoke-filled grungy corner of the universe where the hopeless shared their misery for a hit or a bit of cash.

Yugi liked dancing. He'd always liked dancing, the steady pulse of the rhythm coming as naturally to him as breathing, an escape from reality that he'd always treasured. Even the sickly sweet smell of alcohol and tobacco and a thousand other things flooding through the air couldn't take away that freedom. The warm buzz of his drink replenished the energy running through the streets had sapped, and he was intoxicatingly warm and feeling alive.

Slender arms tightened possessively around his hips, and he leaned back against leather and hard sweetness. "It's just a game," he breathed, low enough for only Yami to hear. "Play with me?"

"Always," came the soft reply. A promise? But wasn't it unwise to make pacts with the creatures of the night? Was he, the unwary innocent, crazy for wanting what he did? Tonight... it was so strange, but tonight... tonight was velvet skin and urgent kisses in the darkness and need and want and his Yami. Even if it were only tonight... even if only that...

He probably was going crazy. But then - who would know save the boy who held him so closely? Who would he tell of what he had done? No one would believe him, at any rate - delicate little Yugi? Playing with a creature borne of the night and fleeing the police at every other turn? Never. Angels could not fall... except into the arms of demons.

God, he was so deliciously beautiful...

Yugi closed his eyes and lost himself in the arms of the darkness.

Swirling shadows and flashes of light.

Heat and friction and moist breath against his skin.

Slim hands wandering his body, soft caresses that grew more demanding with every touch, and he let his hands slide down taut muscle and trembling desire, let himself push and stroke and grope and be fondled in return. Cherish and want and need and ache - what would he give for this elsewhere? Elsewhen?

Rubbing. Half-stifled gasps lost within the roar of the pounding beat.

Sweat.

Yugi tilted his head back a fraction as a warm tongue dragged wetly over his neck. "Nnn... Yami..."

A soft, throaty purr, slender fingers slipping beneath his waistband enticingly. "Hikari..."

Fumble. Bare skin molten against his stomach. "Hmm..."

Pet. Leather taut and slippery beneath his fingertips. His Yami arched against him with a soft growl, long fingers rubbing roughly against his skin. "Mmm..."

_God, want you so much!_

Then he spun in his arms and crushed his mouth to his Yami's, and then they were both mewling and panting and kissing again and again and staggering away from the crushing press of the bodies surrounding them.

The lights and the heat and the drugs and the taste of his mouth were distracting, and he wasn't quite sure which way was up, so he didn't protest when Yami dragged him off to a secluded booth in the corner, landing awkwardly on his back but dragging his Yami down with him, catching the velvet of his mouth in a rough kiss that left them both trembling.

The fake leather of the seat was cracked and stained with blood or alcohol or both. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered except the warm hands stroking down his body and the hungry lips at his throat.

Too fast? His friends back home would be horrified. ...actually, Jou would probably be cheering him on, where had he gone with that blonde?

His darkling nibbled at his mouth impatiently, and he pushed up hard against him, letting a moan slip past his lips. _Oh! Mmm..._ Yami purred, low and wicked and silk, teeth closing sharply over his jaw, and he knew he was trembling when slow kisses slid hungrily down his skin.

God, if he saw this... if he knew... his grandfather would have a fit. Not to mention Anzu... he'd kissed her cheek before, held her hand and wrapped his arms around her waist when they danced, but... passion-drenched heat and madness and darkness and fierce wet kisses and eager hands sliding down every curve and dip of his body were things very different from shy, awkward touches on a crowded dance floor.

And his Yami was nothing like Anzu.

He slid his hands underneath a leather shirt and raked his nails down velvet skin, rewarded for his actions with a soft groan and a warm, heavy body shifting enticingly against him.

_Doesn't matter_, he thought as he pressed into a bruising kiss, _Doesn't matter at all..._

Slippery contact, his Yami tasting of scotch and spice and ravenous hunger. He suckled hard at his tongue, slick and sweet, relishing the groan that melted in his mouth like so much black sugar.

Nothing else matters. Nothing but this.

A soft cry parted his lips as seeking fingers started to stroke urgently at his hips. He nipped roughly at dusky golden skin, feeling the shudder that shook the taller boy, the half-stifled mewl of pleasure that tumbled into his mouth. Heat and touch and taste and yes...

Nothing.

God, it was so good...

- - -  
-2:04 am-

Yami held back a moan as he ground hard against his little one, catching Yugi's soft cry with a desperate kiss. So warm, his Yugi soft and yielding beneath him, slender body pinned ruthlessly against the seat. Delicate hands slid down his back and pants and held him down with surprising strength - but Yugi needn't have bothered, there was no way in hell he was leaving this intoxicating creature. Never.

Warm wriggling heat and painful want.

_Yugi..._

A soft gasp. "Yami..."

_Mine._

"Mmm... good..."

Salty lips, warm and bruised and parted, ghosting deliciously over his skin. Thick, fervent desperation - deep black clawing need, sharp brilliance wanting and longing and craving and...

"Yugi..."

Whimper. Wet. _ Want you, want you, want you need you now!_

Urgent little fingers groping and fondling, and that soft pretty voice choked and pleading. Clothes - too many. If only - if only they were home! Anywhere but here... anywhere!

Tiny hips rubbed desperately hard against him, frantic heat and delicious friction, soft bruised lips perfect and parted underneath his own - slippery wet and tasting berry-sweet, tainted by the faintly sour aftertaste of alcohol. He groaned into that fragile mouth, pressing him down harder, stifling a scream as Yugi thrust roughly back against him. It felt so good, so_ good_...!

_You're mine... for now and for eternity, you're mine. Gods, what you've done to me...!_

Yugi growled softly, honeyed breath purring out from behind sharp teeth, shifting deliciously beneath his thighs. Lust-hazed violet locked onto crimson, and he couldn't keep back a shudder at what he saw simmering there. So _hungry_...

"Mine," Yugi hissed, slender hands fisting in his hair.

And he couldn't reply, because Yugi was kissing him again, hard and wet and sweet, and the warm willing body underneath him was all that mattered in the world.

Yugi... gods Yugi... such a perfect match for him, so very right...

Another whimper, soft tongue lapping at his earlobe, tiny teeth nipping roughly at his skin, and gods but he wanted him! If he felt like this now, then gods, to take him...!

He cried into their next kiss.

And the next.

And the next.

And the next.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Slender hips bucked hard against him, and he thrust and mewled and cried for his sweetness.

And his sweetness thrust and mewled and cried for him in return.

_Yugi..._

Not enough, not enough! Perfect and aching and wonderful but gods above, he needed more!

So much want, so much, he needed to be buried in that slim body, gods, he needed Yugi tight and sweet and writhing and moaning and crying underneath him, and he needed wet heat and tense pleading, and he needed that look in his eyes, he needed that desperate hunger, he needed slender arms and sleek skin and frantic need, he needed to take and take and take and take and take and have and own and love and want and sweet and yes and his and... gods... _Yugi!_

- - -


	6. Avarice

* * *  
**_One Night in Bangkok_**  
**_by Edmondia Dantes_**

AN: I admire how cheesy my dialogue used to be. Go, me!

* * *  
_Chapter Six - Avarice_

-2:18 am-

The world exploded in flame.

Yugi yelped, clasping his hands over his head. He winced as Yami's heavy body pinned him down protectively, coughing out smoke and blinking the sweat from his eyes.

_Why the fuck is this happening to me?! Goddamit!_

Roaring heat and flickering flame.

_God, all I wanted... all I want..._

Wet breath in his ear. "Are you...?"

He choked on stinging smoke, eyes watering fiercely. "Yeah - you?"

They clambered to their feet as best they could, throats and eyes burning, and all around them rose the sickening smell of burnt hair and flesh and the sound of echoing screams.

Roar and light and brilliant heat. He shaded his eyes against the flickering light and shuddered.

_Oh God..._

"Gods, run!"

Around them, the fire shrieked and leapt and raced and spun like a madman's banner in the wind.

- - -  
-2:33 am-

He clasped Yugi against his chest and ducked underneath a flaming banister.

Which way was out? Ra damn it all, he couldn't _see_!

Smoke in his lungs and fire roaring in his ears and it was bright and flickering and orange and gold...

Shouldn't it be shining ebony and crackling with magic and thrumming like eternity and frenzied passion and swirling madness under his command?

He paused for a moment, transfixed by the odd notion, before Yugi yanked him out of the way of a screaming...

_Ouch_, he thought numbly, then picked up his feet again and _ran_.

_Don't think about your dreams, you fool_, he hissed to himself, and lunged out of a broken door, following on Yugi's heels.

Terrified shrieks filling the night as thick blackness shredded the waiting army to ribbons -

_Don't think about it!_

- - -  
-2:40 am-

They plunged out of the inferno, gagging and choking and beating soot from their clothes, but they were alive.

It was more than could be said for many others they had left behind.

They clung to one another while the masses poured around them, screaming, heat searing their backs but far enough away that they didn't catch alight.

Yugi hacked up soot and sickness and wiped his mouth with his arm - not that it made too much of a difference. He felt wretched, and probably looked worse, but that was okay, because at least he was still alive and breathing.

He rubbed cinders out of his eyes, watching as Yami wandered from his side, only to kneel cautiously by a pile of debris. He tugged at it, carefully extracting what looked like a small metal box. "What's that?"

Yami paused, hands wavering above the small box. In the flickering hell-light of the fire, his eyes seemed very dark and strange.

"Cashbox."

His choked breath froze in his throat. "You're not going to-"

Heat and cold - but did they truly clash? "And let whoever finds it spend it all on women and drugs?"

Sharp-edged certainty, and certainly his Yami knew of such things better than he... but... "They wouldn't necessarily-"

Slight exasperation tinged the velvet flavor of his words. "Yugi, you know what kind of place this is! It's a guarantee that they would!"

Even so... "That doesn't make it right!" he protested.

"But it does make it necessary."

Yugi looked away. "I can't accept that..." _and I won't let you sway me._

A slender hand brushed soot away from his cheek with the utmost care. "I never asked you to, hikari."

He flinched away. _Stop coaxing me! I won't let you change my mind! _ "Where do you get off calling me 'light?'"

Flickering flame danced around his slim form as Yami offered him a hand up. Beautiful, graceful fingertips, long and elegant and tapered, palms now smeared with grease and grime, capable of destruction and desire, both overwhelmingly intense and recklessly insane. How could he refuse?

"Because without you, I have none."

And Yugi couldn't think of anything to say to that.

_...and if I fall in love with you, how long will you take until you break my heart?_

_Never_, his darkling breathed without speaking, slender fingers brushing tenderly across his lips. _Never and never and never._

Yugi closed his teeth gently over the slim digits, felt the soft gasp and subtle shift of his weight, saw the flare of blistering heat in his eyes, stronger still than the inferno that blazed in their wake.

Honey, thick and sweet, black and dripping from the comb. _You smell of secrets_, he murmured, _so many secrets and lies and deceit. How can I believe that you want me? That you won't hurt me?_

Darkest ebony drew a thick shade over exquisite ruby. _I ache for you._

_...God._

And they staggered away from it all, fleeing from the hellfire into the precious darkness that wasn't.

In the distance, far behind them, a siren wailed.

- - -  
-2:51 am-

He was really getting sick of running. But it did have its advantages, though they were difficult to ascertain when screeching blindly down narrow passages and filthy alleyways, and dodging slumped bodies draped over every available surface, tugging and nudging along his pretty hikari, spinning and leaping another way when all they ran into was thicker heat and the oppressive stench of smoke in the sultry air.

But... maybe, just maybe, if they were lucky, then maybe they'd get out of this without being caught?

"You over there! Hold it!"

Fuck. Why did the police hate him?

"Again?" Yugi yelped, ducking around a flaming bit of wreckage.

Well, they weren't catching him, and they weren't getting anywhere _near_ his Yugi. He knew about those prisons - crammed full to bursting and spilling over with only the worst kind of human wreckage.

And his Yugi was a tantalizing little creature. Pretty, delicate prey for the unwashed, twisted, drug-addled men of the streets. A warm body was the only thing they wanted - but sweetness and light and desire and need swirled around him, and that fragile purity would be shattered with the first unwelcome touch of a bleary-eyed stranger.

His eyes slitted jealously. _Yugi belongs to me!_

"Looks that way. Less talking, more running!"

Never let them catch his Yugi.

_Never._

An angel would crumble if jailed - and his Yugi deserved only freedom.

"Fuck!" Yugi leaped back, twisted, grabbed his arm and forced him down an alleyway he hadn't known was there.

_Salvation_, he thought, watching passing neon lights flash that lovely face into shadow and light and back again. Salvation in a den of iniquity. Irony liked to bite him in the ass.

Gods damn it all, but he was beautiful.

But now... now, he had to run.

- - -  
-3:08 am-

They skidded to a stop somewhere in the red light district, tucked away in some dark corner between heaven and hell.

Yugi collapsed against the wall, gasping for breath. His lungs felt like they were on fire.

Beside him, Yami slid down to the ground, running a hand through his rumpled hair, trying to even out his own breathing.

"That was fun," he commented idly.

Yugi leaned on his knees and concentrated on inhaling. "Fun?" he muttered raspily, casting a skeptical glance over at his demon child. Beautiful, alluring, and dark as a velvet midnight - as well as quite possibly insane.

He let his eyes wander over every pretty inch of his Yami, who sat slumped against the filthy wall at his side, arms draped with a careless grace over his knees, chin resting on his arms.

Yami noticed the attention - and flashed him another devil's grin.

_My God, you're crazy and strange and wild and everything that I've ever wanted._ His eyes slipped down ebony and silver to come to rest on brilliant gold. _ ...and how was my wish granted?_

"Where do you come from?" he wondered, reaching out and running a curious hand through hair as thick and dark as his own. A nightmare or a dream? Gehenna or Shangri-La?

Yami gazed at him through drowsy lashes and leaned into the touch. "...some say nowhere and some say hell. I say Egypt."

Egypt? Sun and sand and scorching heat and ancient secrets long since vanished in the shadows of eternity. Oh yes - the deserts of Egypt would suit his darkling well.

"And what about you, my sweet hikari?" he murmured inquiringly, one slender arm latching around his waist. "How long has it been since you tumbled from paradise?"

He giggled and tried not to blush - the sheer mischievous flirtation in his tone made him feel shy and strange and young. Strange how he could be embarrassed over mere compliments, yet not so much as squirm when completely entangled with this creature.

"Um... Domino City. Japan."

Yami propped his head on Yugi's shoulder with a soft, contented purr. "Mmm. A foreigner."

He snorted, rather bemused with the soft play of fingertips against his arms. No intent of seduction - but it sent a warm thrill down his spine nonetheless. "Aren't you?"

The fingers wandered idly, absently settling atop his puzzle, tracing the intricate Eye in the center. Yami's voice was very low, tinged with a hint of a thick accent now, warm and strange and different. "...drifter."

He felt an odd prickle run down his spine. Tell me, who are you really? "No family?"

Sharp teeth closed gently over his jaw, his Yami nibbling tenderly at pale skin, another arm slipping around his waist. Yugi groaned softly - was every movement he made designed too drive him mad?

A soft, deliberate bite. "Mmm. None."

None? Then... no connections. No one. Yugi tilted his head, considering, unconsciously shifting closer to that addictive warmth. "Ah..."

His voice was slow and throaty and sounded like he tasted. "You?"

He pushed away the heavy puzzles that dangled between them and scooted onto his lap, looping his arms around Yami's neck and kissing him forcefully, claiming the sweetness of his mouth greedily.

Wet heat and velvet spice. Crushing hunger. No longer a novelty, but gods, perfection incarnate.

_Let me have you and have you and have you..._

When they finally broke apart, both were breathless and flushed and panting with newly reawakened desire.

"I live... with my grandfather and mother in the house attached to my grandfather's game shop," Yugi managed after a moment, resting his forehead against his Yami's, trying to recall how one breathed. In, out, wasn't that how it went?

Warmth tickled his nose as Yami rubbed a playful Eskimo kiss against him. "Nnn."

He blinked, distracted out of melting into his arms by a tingling sense of unease. "...did that lump back there just move?"

Yami looked carefully over his shoulder. He clucked his tongue, considering, before nodding decisively.

"...yes. It did."

Moving things. "..."

They seemed to be having a problem with moving things tonight. "Things that move seem to consistently try to kill us."

Another, more thoughtful nod. "...true."

"I suggest we vacate the premises."

A soft, slightly disgusted snort. "...I've never run away so much before in my life."

_Oh really? Then as someone with such habits as your own..._ "How many times have you been arrested?"

Yami's face danced with light hesitation, his soft mouth curving in a shy echo of his usual Mephistopholean smile. "...for what?"

Yugi pursed his lips and slapped him chidingly. Did he have no shame at all? "Anything!"

The hint of a dark chuckle rang in his soft reply. "...only twelve times."

...why was he not surprised by this? Why did he not care? "You're impossible."

Yami blinked at him, then leaned forward, pressing his lips to Yugi's in a slow, sweet kiss that made his head swim and his toes curl.

The darkling drew back and smiled tenderly at him from barely an inch away, stroking his hair with an affectionate hand, calm and content. Another soft kiss brushed against his willing mouth, and when they pulled away again, Yami caught his lower lip between his teeth and breathed, "You're perfect."

_...oh God, oh God, you're so wonderful it hurts._

His eyes flooded with tears, and he buried his face into his shoulder, feeling a soft ripple of surprise shimmer down his darkling's body, but he couldn't explain himself.

_Am I selfish to want you forever?_

Soft hands slid up his spine, gentle caresses that were warm and slow and tender, Yami whispering nonsense in a language old and foreign and strange to his ears, nuzzling his face into his hair.

His tears were soaking black leather, and he still didn't know why he wept.

_Don't ever leave me. You can't..._

_I won't._

They stood slowly, still twined together, Yami's tongue flicking lightly over his skin, lapping away the tears.

He smiled even though he wept, and pressed wet salty kisses against the addictive heat of his pretty mouth.

- - -  
-3:30 am-

In theory, at least, they were slowly making their way back to the hotel - and the blessed shelter of their hotell rooms. Sanctuary, if only they could find it...

But Yugi had melted into his arms again - and he was a distraction Yami could ill afford at the moment.

But gods help him, he couldn't stop himself - silk and heat and longing, a potent drug that left him dizzy and aching, and it was so hard to think when Yugi... Yugi...

Yami drew in a harsh breath, gripping his slim form perhaps harder than was necessary, nuzzling his lips against warm porcelain that smelled like honey.

Soft panting. So soft, everything about Yugi, so very soft, soft eyes, soft supple mouth, soft hair, soft slippery tongue, soft and alabaster, soft and all his because he'd found him, he'd won him, he'd caught his prey and been captured in return, but gods, to belong to Yugi was sheer perfection itself. Strange how such an innocent creature could still be so very jealous...

"Is this... mmm... is this where we're supposed to be?"

He forced himself to drag his mouth away from the smooth curve of Yugi's neck long enough to blink blearily at his surroundings.

"No, I... I'm not sure..."

Soft mouth wet and warm against his collarbone. "Dammit..." Yugi sighed, and he was so damned beautiful that he caught him by the waist and kissed him desperately deeply. Sleek warm Yugi slim and hard in his arms... so hard to resist...

"Mmm... Yami..."

They stumbled against the nearest wall, eager hands searching for now-familiar holds, Yugi's leg looped enticingly around his waist.

Painful desire.

Gods, Yugi, his wet warm willing little Yugi... soft crying against his neck, delicate fingers holding and petting... heat and sweetness and perfection and Yugi...

_And if I told you that I love you..._

_Would you turn and walk away?_

Yugi shifted his grip, rubbing his hips deliberately against Yami's. A soft moan - slick and velvet in his mouth.

_Is it wrong to want you the way I do?_

Slender hands eager and groping, sliding under his shirt and ghosting across his chest. Heat - pressed so close, so tight, searching and wanting and taking and craving - it was so good, yes, his Yami felt so very good as he clung hungrily to the slender warmth of his trembling form.

_And if I give you me... what do I get in return?_

Glowing crimson met his gaze, and they were so close, so very close, and it was warm and they were both panting and still completely tangled up in each other. Slim fingertips cupped his chin, and there was so much blatant hunger in his eyes that Yugi nearly shuddered.

"Me," his wandering demon child breathed, and kissed him again, rough and warm and passionate and slippery and needy, and he pushed back against his heavy warmth, grasping at firm thighs with greedy hands.

_Mine_, he thought dazedly, and kissed him harder still.

- - -  
-4:06 am-

Some way or another - how long had they run? Somehow they wound up staring through the darkness at one of the many discreet side entrances to the Banyan Tree Hotel.

And Yugi, quite without reason, was terrified. God, if he... if they entered this hotel together, he knew, he _knew _he wouldn't be able to resist his darkling - he knew how very much he didn't want to resist him.

And he knew that one night spent in his arms would kill him. His darkling was a wanderer, a thief and a criminal, strange and wild and vicious - and a single night in his bed would bee far more deadly than a cyanide kiss.

It would never be enough - he was sure of that. To join with the darkness... to let that restless hunger wash over him, to give himself completely to a boy he'd only met hours before... his Yami might belong to him, but...

If his darkling - the sweetest of sinners - fled from his side when dawn broke the protective veil of the night...

Yugi knew he would shatter without him. But if he didn't... didn't sleep with him, then maybe, just maybe, maybe he could recover? Maybe he would remember what it was to breathe alone? What it was to live without needing someone so badly it hurt?

Need... even now, even now his restless hands clung to black leather, even now his tired body ached for the feel of his darkness.

Even now he craved the taste of his lips.

Trembling breath stirred his hair, slender fingers curled possessively around his hips. "Come with me?" Yami whispered, voice thick with longing, and it was all he could do to not look into his eyes - or else he would surely fall.

He swallowed, forcing himself to take a step back, even as every sense he possessed screamed at him in protest. "...I - no. No... I can't..."

Exquisite agony slammed into his mind and body and made him choke and force back a painful sob. _Oh God, please, don't do this to me! Don't make me hurt us!_

Yami trembled beside him. "Why?"

It hurt so much... he could nearly taste his darkling's rage and frustration and desperate misery, but gods, what else could he do? Yugi drew in a shaky breath and tried to speak. "Because..."

_Because... because... you aren't... you can't... we're so different that God, it's perfect, but..._

_Stay with me and see what you've never seen._

Before... before, he knew, before he had learned and understood and touched and tasted his dream. Now? His dream was so beautiful that his dream could break his heart and not understand what he had done.

_How quickly will you steal my soul and my love and my life and my innocence... and what will we do when the morning comes?_

Soft hands seized his shoulders - _You can't do this to me!_ came the silent shriek of protest, _You can't!_

He couldn't keep staring into nothingness when the darkness he'd so easily embraced stood screaming and raging and furious beside him.

Yugi forced his eyes from the ground to look up into mirrored longing and a silent plea. _Stay with me, don't leave me, I'll promise you the stars just so long as you don't go...! Anything and everything, don't you know...?! I'll do anything, anything, anything you would ever wish I can give you, just swear you'll never leave me!_

_How can I? _Yugi questioned silently, tears burning in his eyes, raising the elegant hands from his shoulders and clasping Yami's golden fingertips between his own, lifting them to frame his cheeks. The gentle grip firmed, long fingers tracing the full curve of his lips, the delicate arch of his brows, the tip of his nose.

Still silence, ruby on amethyst, frozen misery made heavy with need. One delicate finger brushed against the swollen softness his mouth once more, and he lapped at the tanned flesh, kissing silken skin, scraping his teeth gently against him, and waited for the inevitable reply.

After a moment, a heartbreaking whisper tumbled past trembling lips. "You're all I've ever wanted," the darkling breathed, "You haunt my every dream. Every thought, every word, every breath I take-"

Calmly, never looking away from his gaze, Yugi raised his own pale digits to cover the velvet curve of his darkling's mouth. An odd gesture of affection, to be sure, but he knew its effects, and he shivered as sharp teeth settled over his skin, warm and wet and as violently distracting as the look in his eyes. "Say it," he whispered around sensitive skin, biting down softly, "Prove it to me."

_I need you_, he promised, his free hand slipping around his waist, _I need you so badly that_ -

_- on cold dark nights I wake screaming for your arms._

Crystalline understanding, pure in the shadows of the night. Slim hands dropped from parted lips only to curve desperately around sleek flesh. Soft mouths joined in skewed, frantic union, and neither cared about the taint.

_...even if this is wrong..._

_...gods, even if I'll die from it..._

_...even if I fall to your darkness..._

_...even if I drown in your light..._

_Gods help me, but I think I love you._

- - -


	7. Lust

* * *  
**_One Night in Bangkok_**  
**_by Edmondia Dantes_**

* * *  
_Chapter Seven - Lust_  
* * *

They staggered together to the suites, blinking as they realized just how close they had been to each other. The room across the hall...

_I could have had him in my bed the night before..._

Slim hands fumbled for plastic keys between deep frantic kisses, and when the first door opened, one tumbled behind the other to get inside.

Whose room was it anyway?

When the door slammed behind them, it no longer mattered.

The carpet was thick and deep and plush and ludicrously expensive, but he didn't notice it, hands and arms and lips full of his hikari and aching for more.

Yugi's shirt was slipping off, and he couldn't be bothered with rational thought any longer.

They fell together, entwined in a desperate tangle of madness and longing and need.

Slim fingers splayed in his hair, and soft heat lay trembling and wanting beneath him. So willing, so ready, so perfect and vulnerable and beautiful and eager and unashamed and _oh gods Yugi I do love you, I do..._

Wet bruised lips caught his own like honey and forgotten purity, and he was lost.

Frantic.

Heat and touch and slender arms and legs and rough kisses and small hands roaming his skin and shifting and wriggling and soft gasps and eyes so dark they bordered on violet-tainted ebony and he couldn't think anymore and didn't want to because oh gods gods gods Yugi...

Pale milky skin, soft tangled hair, soft open wet bruised mouth, eager urgent eyes shaded by thick dark lashes, soft pleading cries against his lips... _pleaseyes-mineminemine!_

Desire so strong he ached for him.

Soft panting and heat and need and need and need... gods, he had no idea how very beautiful he was, flushed and sweet and sleek velvet silk in his arms...

_Yami...?_ he questioned, soft hands cupping his cheeks, eyes dark and shy and wanting...

_Yes..._

_Sweetwettaketaketake! Please no, don't shy away now! Please!_

"Aa..."

A sweet, helpless sound, velvet lips parted in a moist mewl, pleasure and pain and madness, soaked in desire and need, tears shimmering on the edge of brilliant amethyst.

_...gods, yes._

Whimper.

Beg.

Cry.

Want.

_...yes._

Join.

_Gods..._

_Yes._

Union.

Heat.

Thick darkness, deep enough to drown in.

Utter still night torn by ragged cries.

"...gods!"

A whimpering scream, soft fingers sliding urgently over sweat-slicked flesh. Impatient kisses, bruising and slippery and wet. Touch - touch and touch and touch... _oh gods, let me touch, let me pet let me own let me have let me take... yes? Yes... always always yes..._

A shuddering gasp, a desperate thrust, pushing down, pushing harder, pushing deeply into yielding velvet warmth. Gods, he'd never felt this good before... helpless heat and his Yami murmuring breathless pleas against his skin again and again and again...

Rough - hard and wanting, but gods, gods... his Yami snarling and arching and taking and gasping his name like a prayer...

Passion.

Friction.

Heat.

Forced sweetness.

Sobbing.

Drowning.

Need.

The joining was sticky and sweet and hot - bodies tangled together, soft voices catching on frantic pleas, moist lips grazing his throat and hands twined in his hair, deep pressure sliding and twisting inside him.

They hadn't even made it to the bed.

He whimpered as his newfound lover slammed against him again, a soft moan ghosting over his naked skin, slim hands tightening on his body. Sharp teeth closed over soft flesh, and he cried out, pushing back against heavy warmth, a silksoft cry tumbling into his mouth.

Slippery heat and a trembling body arching and pushing inside of him. It was good, better than good, better than anything, better than-! _God!_

"Yami..." he whispered, and the darkling pressed harder inside him, another soft cry muffled against his hair. God, the heat...! So much, so much! Yami slammed frantically inside him, pushing so hard, so _hard_ that he gasped and bucked and cried and latched pale fingers into dark hair, crying his name.

A soft, torn whimper answered his plea, his ruby eyes dark and clouded and desperate, thick and deep as blood newly-spilled on virgin ground. "...gods...Yugi..." Trembling - so much... clinging and wanting and craving and longing and his Yami so heavy and sweet all around him... Silently begging need, slippery shifting, heat and pressure and it felt so_ good_!

Wet - gods, so wet, his tanned body slicked with sweat and shivering in his arms, buried so deeply inside him, slippery and hot as he pushed and pressed and gasped and moaned and kissed him so hard and so deep and so desperate...

_Can you save my soul?_

_Can you destroy it?_

_God, just never stop - never stop needing me and never stop begging me and never stop never never stop loving me._

White flashed behind his eyelids, and he shrieked, clutching desperately around his Yami, and _God harder more Yami please harder yes more please! Pleasegodsplease!_

Soft lips found his eyelashes and his cheeks and his mouth and pleasepleaseplease! Heat and crying and _yesyesyes!_ Sleek wetness twisting and arching and God! Whimpering and pleading and unity and sweet fumbling and pushing and yes...!

"I love you," he whispered to the darkness enveloping him. "I love you..."

Teeth dragged over his neck, sharp and delightful. "I love you forever," midnight's lost child murmured raggedly against his trembling lips, plunging roughly inside him for the thousandth time, "I love you forever."

_So good, yes, good good yes! Yes! God, don't stop, not now!_

Frantic pressure.

_...please!_

Desperate pleasure.

_Gods...!_

Unity.

Forever.

A single choked scream, muffled in the searing heat of a painful kiss.

_//Mine!//_

_/Godyesmine!/_

Ecstasy - drenched in tears.

They lay in a tangled, panting heap on the floor, still intertwined, trembling in the wake of perfection.

Deepest ruby, thickly shaded in black, wild and shimmering with sated desire, dark and glowing in his beautiful face, tilted to meet ebony-framed amethyst, touched with stardust and all the grace of heaven.

His Yugi lay quietly beneath him, carefully stroking damp gold away from long lashes, so exquisite and beautiful it almost hurt to see, to feel, to taste... Yami shuddered, brushing bruised lips across the pale skin of his palms, his hikari warm and drowsy and still and calm, unspoken adoration melting into his soul like a kiss, sealing the hurt and easing the harshness of the restless shadows that made up his self.

//...I give you me,// he whispered, teeth closing tenderly over his fingers, suckling softly at pale flesh. //My self and my soul and my heart, I give you me.//

/...mine./ Yugi's smile was lazy and beautiful and breathtaking and... he loved him so much... _Yes... you can own me and take me and break me and oh gods I'll love you for it, I'll love you for anything..._

//Mine forever.//

A soft, tender kiss, slow and deep and contented at last.

_...always._

_Love you always._

Softness and innocence and pure adoration... /...you're crying,/ his hikari whispered into the still quiet before dawn, and he knew it must be true.

Strange... he'd never cried before... //Yes.//

So soft... /I love you only.../

//Biaw... biaw nehk...//

/Aishiteru.../

All was silent.

After a moment or forever, slow movement stirred the precious stillness - careful, tentative steps, clinging hands and lips and bodies, and they stumbled over to the bed without a single word.

Tumble.

Silk slid with a faint rustle over sticky skin, and when they were both wrapped in the sheets, Yugi drew the larger body against his own, and gently kissed away his tears.

//Only for you...//

/Only ever for you./

_You alone do I love._

Beneath the protective cover of the shadowy corner where careless hands had abandoned them, twin puzzles gleamed sun-bright in the heavy gloom.

- - -


	8. Epilogue

* * *  
**_One Night in Bangkok_**  
**_by Edmondia Dantes_**

* * *  
_Epilogue_

-10:43 am-

Morning seared away the blackness - and the night's children fled into their safe havens, silent cloisters tucked away behind thick walls and heavy doors, untouched by the heat of a day they despised.

Save for the shadows' favorite son.

Their adored child lay calm and content in the painful brilliance of morning - asleep in the tender embrace of the dawn's chosen one.

Light. Too bright, searing against his closed eyelids and forcing him into consciousness.

Yugi Motou winced, rolled over, and yanked the covers up over his head.

/Ugh.../

//...hmn?//

His eyes flew open, a squeak of startlement tumbling out of his mouth.

"Eep!"

"Gah!"

Wide-eyed, still buried under the sheets, they blinked dazedly at each other, trying to calm racing heartbeats and smooth ragged breathing.

_Heat touched by madness, drowned in lust and desperately thick passion, edged in want and need and craving, deep wild hunger, laughing in crying and adoration so pure that he wept for the memory of their union..._

Yugi buried his face in the mattress shyly, flushing. Somehow, he hadn't quite thought of waking up to see this angelic demon still tucked in his bed. /Oh... hi./

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Yami turn a becoming shade of pink. //Hikari...?//

He let out a half-hysterical giggle. Wildly rumpled hair, pale golden skin faintly bruised (his fault, he knew), full lips swollen and completely disheveled... and damn his darkling, even with all this he was so very very beautiful... /Yeah?/

//...where are we?//

Yugi blinked, disconcerted. He hadn't the faintest idea - as soon as whichever door it was had opened, he'd grabbed his Yami and closed his mouth over golden flesh. /Um.../

Laughter tickled at the back of his mind. //You don't know either, do you?//

/We could always check.../ he suggested halfheartedly, shrugging awkwardly.

A soft hum of acknowledgment trilled into his mind. //We could.//

/Yami-chan?/

//Mmm?//

/You're not checking, you're looking at me with a silly grin on your face./

//You're beautiful. You're sexy. You're mine. You're blushing again! Kawaii! And, sweet hikari-mine... you're not looking either.//

Yugi giggled. /You're pretty. You're sexy. You're mine. You're blushing! Kawaii!/

They locked mischievous eyes, bright smiles dancing with laughter, and somehow or another wound up tangled together in a sprawling mass of arms and legs and playful morning kisses.

Yugi rubbed his nose affectionately against Yami's, violent ebony spilling into his open soul from the soft caress of his darkling's spirit, utter darkness melting into brilliant gold. He could feel the change - a warm thrum on the edge of consciousness, treacherous as it was beautiful, and he knew it belonged to the creature he so desperately adored.

Thick wild passion, bright and shrieking with all the forces of eternity and madness, barely leashed and primal, hidden behind the shadow of bloodied rubies. So beautiful. So wild. So strange. /This isn't normal, is it?/

A quick, wry quirk of his lips - what passed for a smile. //What isn't normal?//

_You. Me. Last night. Everything._ /Us. After... um... what we did, it's not really typical to suddenly have someone living in your head, you know?/

Not typical, but so very right, as though he'd been missing something all his life and had found it in his Yami's arms. //...I've needed you with me forever.//

It was the truth, and he knew, he knew how much it ached. /...I know. I've missed you for so long-/

//I love you,// his darkling interrupted sharply, long fingers curling possessively into the curve of his side, a hint of that feral hunger gleaming like diamond dewdrops down the glimmering tendrils of his thoughts. //Only I love you.//

Was it a warning or a threat? He couldn't forget the brilliant cruelty in his eyes...

He brushed soft gold away from glittering crimson, tracing the golden curve of his cheek with careful fingertips, considering his reply.

/What if I told you that I've loved only you for forever?/

Yami nipped softly at the fingers lingering on his brow, the swirling of his violent shadows stilling at the possessive tone lingering in his reassurance. //I would tell you the same.//

Yugi sighed softly. _I can't live without you - and you'll kill yourself and everyone else if you can't have me, won't you?_ /You can't leave me, you know./

Long lashes drooped prettily as soft hands wandered down his skin. //I never would.//

_Never is forever... no matter. You can't. But still..._ /Don't think I don't know about what you've done./

He repressed another sigh as soft breath, sweet as honey, gusted gently over his skin, thick scarlet and ebony spilling against his chest when his Yami buried his lips in his shoulder and looked away. //I was looking for you,// he whispered after a moment, //I can't help what I am...//

A desert-born wanderer, crafted in shadow and raised in the harshness of the sun - gifted with Darkness so strong there could be no difference between the two. /I know. I was looking for you. But I never killed anyone on my search./

Quiet. Thoughtful silence, for a moment, and when he spoke, he was unashamed. //You and I are very different, hikari.//

The darkness... his darkness... slow and achingly beautiful, cruel and flawed and drenched in passion and tears... he'd sifted through memories and an unknown past to breathe in his soulmate, and what had he done? A million silent screaming deaths - how many had he died? /Tell me... How long have you been able to shatter souls?/

A soft sigh, and Yami turned his head slightly, nuzzling into the curve of Yugi's cheek. //As long as I can remember. How long have you been able to save them?//

Sad eyes, sad souls, and he'd caught them and held them and wondered as they healed - drawn into his self and made pure. /...for as long as I can remember./ He tried not to laugh, the sound strange and soft and sad as it tumbled down their link. Destroyer and savior... damnation and salvation... and neither of them had known who they were until the night before. /We match./

He wrapped his arms around his shadow and pressed a soft kiss against hair brighter still than the glow of the morning sun. //You were meant for me... and I was meant for you,// Yami murmured, //Always for you...//

_Whatever it is that we are..._ /Perfect. Light needs darkness, darkness needs light, I love you and I love you and I love you so much.../

Yami buried his face against his shoulder again, purring low in the back of his throat. //Love only ever you...//

/Love you for always.../

Sharp, crystal desperation. //Never leave me.//

_How could I? I'd drown without you..._ /Never ever never./

He pressed his lips to softest gold, shivering at the softly inhaled breath, the still softer brush of slick heat against his flesh.

//Never.//

/Never./ He paused for a moment, hesitating and unsure. /...will you come home with me?/

Yami pulled away a fraction, just enough to lean down and rest his forehead against Yugi's, slender hands lifting to frame the soft curves of his face.

//You are my home.//

A soft, crystal giggle tumbled past lips soft as silk and sin. /Mine.../ the word was soft with wonder, brilliant and smoldering with light, and he reached for the darkness and kissed the firm curve of his velvet mouth.

//Mine.//

And he bopped his beautiful new lover over the head with a pillow.

_Salvation in the shadows?_ Yugi wondered for a moment, diving under the covers to escape the wrath of his chuckling Yami, who, as he had discovered, wielded a mean fluffy thing.

_...nah._

Just in love.

Just... in love.

"Eeep! Yami! No fair tickling! No faiiiiiiiiir!"

- - -

~ The End ~

AN: Well, that's it. Now let's go tuck this thing back on the dusty shelf where it belongs and call it a day.


End file.
